Category Archives: Recipes

This is the first blogging event that I actually felt compelled to participate in. Not that I mind, though, since it was my post that inspired the event. Barbara, of Winos and Foodies, noticed that the cupcakes were quite popular among bloggers and spread around my appreciation (and others’ appreciation) for the talented Donna Hay. The premise of the event is simple: make a batch ... Read More »

I love a versatile recipe. It’s fun to mix up fruits and flavors without having to sweat the details of flour, leavening, etc. This recipe makes a great tasting loaf no matter how I mix it up. Since the fat – butter in this case, though you can use vegetable oil of you prefer – is melted, no creaming is necessary and it only takes ... Read More »

“What would a bread book be without a recipe for a sugar and spice swirl” asks Beth Hensperger, before sharing her recipe for Orange Cinnamon Swirl bread with the readers of The Bread Bible. Ms. Hensperger’s book is her bread bible, containing 300 of her favorite recipes. The otherbread bible, by Nancy Silverton was published a few years after this one. I personally find the ... Read More »

I will admit that I was completely astounded that this worked. I made potato chips – crispy, salty, tasty potato chips – without using oil. And I did it with my microwave. For a few years, I didn’t have a microwave because, let’s face it, the one thing you really need a microwave for is to thaw some varieties of frozen food. And 90% of ... Read More »

Down deep in the darkest recesses of your heart, you know you like milk chocolate. Creamier, sweeter, milder than dark chocolate, it probably reminds you of your childhood. It’s okay to like it. Despite what the marketing machine and food snobs will tell you, milk chocolate is not necessarily inferior to dark chocolate. Some is good, some is not. This is true of just about ... Read More »

While I like a light, soft breadstick as much as anyone, I also like the crunchy, good-for-dipping kind. Soft breadsticks are usually just dinner rolls, shaped into logs or twists and dressed up with some flavorful topping, like coarse salt or cheese. The crisp, crunchy kind are often made from leftover yeast doughs, cut very thinly and baked until hard. They’re not as useful for ... Read More »

As the holidays begin to approach – despite store displays that indicate that Christmas began in October – it is time to start thinking about holiday gifts and cookies, both for swapping and for eating. This recipe is a variation on Martha Stewart’s Bourbon Balls. The biggest change is that instead of bourbon, I prefer to use dark rum, which is made from fermented molasses. ... Read More »

After the last IMBB, Sarah Lou from One Whole Clove and I had a bit of a chat about the effect of water baths on souffles. Her lovely Pecorino and Caramelised Veggie Souffle, baked in a water bath, just didn’t rise quite as impressively as she had expected (though it certainly still looked good). Since a souffle gains much of its lift during its initial ... Read More »